According to the Catholic Christian faith, all sins can be reduced to seven which has been coined as The Seven Deadly Sins, and they are: Lust, Greed, Gluttony, Wrath, Envy, Sloth, and the worst of them all, Pride or Hubris. These Seven Deadly Sins were popularised in the Japanese anime Full Metal Alchemist, where they were given anthropomorphic forms that allowed them to run around causing havoc. In reality, these seven sins have been running rampant in Hong Kong, the very reason why no social movement could ever take off, for as long as these Seven Sins continue to run around making mischief, Hong Kong will remain a sinful city where the Lord cannot and would not extend His hand of mercy.
Lust, Greed and Gluttony
These three of the Seven Sins can be grouped together as one, for they share one common attribute: the intense and excessive desire for something to the extent of depriving other people of their potential to enjoy the same things, or using immoral means to obtain them. In Hong Kong, the objects of these three have been wealth and power.
The chinese forces are undoubtedly the worst miscreants in terms of power, as well as the pro-establishment, for they covet the power that rightfully belongs to the people of Hong Kong, hoarding it for themselves and hold no qualms about wanting every last drop of power. The pro-establishment covets more for wealth than power, for they know they cannot hope to compete with the chinese forces for that, but they have come to an unholy arrangement that as long as the pro-establishment can covet and take as much wealth as they want, they will leave the power brokering to the chinese. The lust, greed and gluttony for power is what holds Hong Kong back in being the free and functional society that it could be, while in terms of wealth is what causes the everyday people to suffer, as they are continually drained to satisfy the said forces’ insatiable appetite. The chinese people themselves are also committers of this sin, as they hoard daily goods and vital resources for themselves without end, such as baby milk formula, schools, public housing and social welfare; their insatiable gluttony is a major source of discontent amongst Hong Kongers against the chinese, and what initiated the movement for Hong Kong to be its own independent political state that can control the amount of people coming into Hong Kong.
However, lust, greed and gluttony are not just limited to the chinese or their pro-establishment henchmen, but also viral amongst the pro-democracy factions, from the pan-democrats to the localists. Power is the ability to influence or coerce people, and every pro-democracy faction is guilty of wanting more than necessary and using under-handed means in fighting for it, the central cause to the continual schisms which plagues us. For example, the pan-democrats saw the localists’ ability to rally their followers into selflessly giving themselves into the movement, and they lusted for the same ability; but they couldn’t do it on their own, so they would slander the reputation of the localists with all sorts of accusations, the most common one being that localists are supposedly agents of china out to sow discord within Hong Kong. The Pan-Democrats should have been content for rallying like-minded, milder Hong Kongers to their cause, but their greed is such that they want every pro-democracy Hong Konger to be under their beck and call. For the localists, they themselves are not innocent, for they argue amongst themselves in their lust, greed and gluttony for the power to influence and command, where they also resort to using under-handed means such as slandering and treachery in order to get what they want. The illusion is that if you can deprive the other of what you want, what the other lost will naturally flow into your own coffer, except that never happens as what is lost remains lost to both sides of the conflict.
Envy
Close to lust, greed and gluttony is the deadly sin of envy, the jealousy against others for having something you want but cannot have, which can often lead to the employment of immoral means of having things for yourself. Just above, envy have been touched upon without being named as the culprit in the conflicts and schisms amongst the pro-democracy factions, leading to backstabbing, treachery and slandering in order to perhaps get the object of one’s jealousy.
Yet, despite their united front and arrogance, the chinese and pro-establishment also suffer from envy. We only need to see the attitudes displayed by the chinese during their battles with Hong Kongers over Hong Kong resources such as school placement, housing and daily goods such as baby milk formula to see their envy oozing out of their very being. Commonly heard by Hong Kongers are utterances of envy such as “well, we chinese had to suffer for decades while you Hong Kongers got away with it, so now it’s only right that you suffer as well”, or “if it wasn’t for beijing’s ‘special treatment’, Hong Kong would be dead!”, as well as “we are all chinese, why can’t we come to Hong Kong without obstructions?” Perhaps the person who summed the chinese envy up best is the Hong Kong stand-up comedian Dayo Wong Tze Wah’s famous “fish-ball” gag:
“It’s like two people each holding a stick of fish balls. The chinese person dropped one while the Hong Konger didn’t, so the former complains about the inequality and unfairness of it all. So the Hong Konger decided to give one of his fish balls to the chinese person, but the guy didn’t want it. Instead, the chinese person throw away two of the Hong Konger’s fish ball leaving only one, so that he himself will have two while the poor Hong Konger only has one.”
Sloth
This by far, of all Seven Deadly Sins, is the most prevalent throughout Hong Kong: absolute laziness borne from total indifference and ignorance. Almost everyone in Hong Kong is guilty of this sin, especially those who openly profess that they do not care about social issues simply because they hate “politics”, and definitely those who would tearfully vote for a political party despite knowing that the party is either totally inept in bringing about the restoration of Hong Kong, or that the party has openly betrayed Hong Kong and its people time and again, such as the Democratic Party and Civic Party.
Amongst the lay populace of Hong Kong, their sloth comes from one set of desire: eat, play, sleep and recycle. They don’t want to care about the place they live in, or to deal with the socio-cultural issues that plague their Hong Kong, because to do so is exhausting and draining, and that the whole idea sounds too complicated and tedious. So these Hong Kongers chose to ignore and be indifferent, shutting out all voices from their lives; or they would hand over their duty to others, caring not an iota for how their representatives make use of the power given to them, or how these representatives betray their desires and interests.
We see this in the pro-china Hong Kongers, whose sloth make them willingly relinquish the rights and freedoms that are rightfully theirs, into the hands of tyrants who would abuse them. In the book, Escape from Freedom, sloth comes from the fear of being actually free, because they do not know what to do with it, as the endless opportunities is overwhelming, so they would rather have someone tell them what to do. For the Pan-Democrat supporters in Hong Kong, they are also guilty of sloth, for they are simply content with the ceremonial nature of the supposedly democratic parties, doing the annual rituals such as the June Fourth Remembrance Vigil in Victoria Park and the July 1st protest march. These Hong Kongers would also cast their vote every four years to the same party as last time, without a care of what work their party has done or hasn’t done; neither do they care if the party they voted for had betrayed them, simply content with the sloppy excuse their representatives gives them to legitimise their ineptitude or betrayal.
Yet, the once upcoming localists are guilty as well, for while they are critical of the Pan-Democrats’ cultish following of political parties and celebrities, many of them are susceptible to personality worship of prominent localism figureheads. This is because they have to think for the rest of Hong Kong, who refused to do so, and this ends up in utter fatigue; so most localists would prefer to follow those who are great orators and charismatic leaders. However, people are people, not deities, thus capable of breaking down, and when their leaders break down as they naturally would, these slothful localists would argue and fight amongst themselves. Without them as Hong Kong’s last bulwark against the dark, because their energy and time are being used to attack each other, Hong Kong can do nothing but fall further into suffering.
Wrath
This of the Seven Sins has been the most destructive cause of any political or social movement in Hong Kong: the utter anger, rage and hatred aimed at others without reason, simply because the person is offended in some way by another. This self righteous anger is not to be confused with righteous anger, however, which is about anger at an act, an event or a person for the injustices being committed against others; but in Hong Kong, the two have become muddled up.
Wrath has been the cause of many political feuds across the political spectrum in Hong Kong, and commonly in inter-factional conflicts between pro-democracy activists, leading many lay Hong Kongers into the illusion that the pro-establishment is more civilised and unified than those for democracy. This is untrue of course, as there is just as much angry exchanges inside the pro-china camp, but their chinese overlord usually do a good job in reining them all in with a heavy hand and an iron fist.
There is nothing wrong with a person being angry at the idiocy by others of different political affiliation because that idiocy is detrimental to Hong Kong society, but it falls into the sin of wrath when that anger is taken out of proportion. For example, when Hong Kong localists and independence advocates called for the boycott of the Victoria Park June Fourth Vigil, as it has been exposed as a con, the Pan-Democrats in their anger spread lies, sullying the image of their political opponents, and making uncalled for comments, such as Lai Chak Fan telling the anti-vigil crowd that they have no right to be critical of anything simply because they are low income earners. Another example occurred during the 2014 Umbrella Revolution, when members of the Labour Party in Hong Kong physically attacked and harassed other occupiers that are against the Pan-Democrats who are trying to disband the demonstration.
The ones generally named as localists does not fare any better, for as far as feuds go, none have it more frequently than localists. Wrath amongst localists are often not at an injustice being committed but more often than not mere self-righteous anger, a perceived slight or a simple misunderstanding, perhaps miscommunication; but the anger which ensures often get blown completely out of proportion, with one side often inundating the other’s platforms with words of hate and irrationality.
Hubris
The source of the other six of the Seven Deadly Sins springs from the this one: Pride; but this is not to be confused with the pride that we feel about ourselves when we have achieved something in life, or in being gifted with an ability, instead it should be better described as hubris: the feeling that one’s self is so great and infallible that the person have no regard for others, or that one believe themselves to be infallible to the point that no one should be allowed to challenge their ideas.
This is the greatest sin out of all seven because no one is infallible except God, and to hold ourselves with such esteem that we perceive ourselves as gods is committing blasphemy. No other is guiltier of this sin than the chinese and their pro-establishment bed fellows, for their love of tyranny and dictatorial rule over Hong Kong is based on one idea: we are great, we are omnipotent, all you mortals are nothing and deserve to have whatever is coming to you, because we know better than you, we know what is best for everyone at all times, and you all will listen to whatever we say and to hell with you if you don’t. If anyone reads the news in Hong Kong, you will see the hubris the pro-chinese political figures have, such as presuming to tell Hong Kongers what they should identify with; telling Hong Kong youths they are just disillusioned in rejecting being made chinese and should love their overlords; telling Hong Kongers their lives are inconsequential to the end that they can be sacrificed if the upper echelon deemed so; we are above the laws, constitutions and treaties; and Hong Kongers’ needs means absolutely nothing to them because their needs is above everyone else.
Hubris is also the major sin of the Pan-Democrats, who sincerely believes that their ideas and beliefs are absolute, and woe to anyone who seeks to challenge them. For example, their attitude in regards to the fight for Hong Kong independence is that it is wrong, because their “democratic-return” to china is the only option, never mind that so many events since 1997 strongly indicate they are wrong. Recently, the Pan-Democrats have changed their tunes, suddenly adopting ideas that Hong Kong localists have been saying since 2013, but their hubris is such that they cannot admit their wrong, continuing to slander and attack Hong Kong localism with false premise and accusations, and taking localists ideas but twisted them to suit their political purposes. Amongst the Hong Kong localists and independence advocators, pride also plays a major role in their never ending feuds. Some believe themselves to be infallible that they cannot accept the fact that they or their esteemed leadership can fall; because they have placed people on pedestals to be worshipped like gods.
BLASPHEMY AND IDOLATRY
In the end, even those Seven Deadly Sins boils down to two sins: blasphemy and idolatry.
Blasphemy because many Hong Kongers conceive of themselves as the epitome of existence and not God, that they see themselves as infallible gods or presume to know what God has in mind. For example, the chief executive “elect” Carrie Lam had invoked the name of the Lord twice, saying that Heaven has reserved a place for her, and that God had told her to run for the chief executive office. Another is the pro-establishment churches in Hong Kong misrepresenting God, misquoting the Holy Bible to maintain their support of the chinese overlords dictating over Hong Kongers.
Hong Kongers are idolaters because they have set up persons, ideologies, nationality, wealth and social status to be worshipped and make sacrifices to, what should be justice and righteousness are totally ignored if convenient to do so.